Plants don't kid themselves...

 we here go again...this time with the cover!

Plants don’t kid themselves…

…about the state of the world, substituting fantasy for reality the way we humans do.   And thus begins Steve Solomon’s guide to “Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades”.  Steve is not a man to mince words, and so he gets my immediate admiration.

Throughout his book, he talks about going about doing things in a way that really works—not in the way we would hope it to.  Thus he separates out those he calls the “capital O” organic from himself and those who may follow a more practical way of growing; from the beginning with Steve, gardening is not for the wishful thinkers or those too religious about their points of view to take on methodologies that actually make sense when the hoe meets the soil.

I was fortunately turned on to this book when I wasn’t as determined to grow my own as I am right now.  There were definitely numerous seeds planted in my mind along with a slough of experience that aided me in picking up the book for real upon my return from New Zealand.  Sometimes, we just aren’t ready yet.

And Steve definitely did the hard miles, learning from those who grew plants for serious profit—you’ve got it (those which he calls “capital G” growers)—and we’re not talking vegetables.  Because of the value of their crops, they will push the individual plants to the limit.  He learned from them that most plant growth will be reduced to the level of the component in shortest supply; this can be anything that affects plant growth: soil and its many components, the climate—including how much and how often it rains and the sun shines, the amount of competition from their fellow plants, and how clever we are in the manipulation and control of these elements.

He immediately dives into plant basics and botany, how to create optimum results for what is actually a totally unnatural phenomenon in nature, to weed-- or not to, about thinning for success, the facts of light, rate of increase in growth given light and soil temps, and a ‘word on tools’.  Not only does he hugely challenge conventional ways of thinking but is sacrilegious as to whom he targets.

No one is safe, well, except possibly for his plants…